Laura J. Rittenhouse (, Arter; April 30, 1841 – July 11, 1911) was an American temperance activist,

juvenile literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

author, poet, businesswoman, and club-woman of the

long nineteenth century The long nineteenth century is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg and later popularized ...

. She was the author of the poem, "Out of the Depths".

Biography

Laura Jacinta Arter was born in Grand Chain,

Pulaski County, Illinois Pulaski County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,193. Its county seat is Mound City. Its largest city is Mounds. It is located along the Ohio River in the southwestern po ...

, near the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

, April 30, 1841. She was a daughter of Dr. Daniel Arter. From her parents she inherited her tastes and talent for literature. Her education was received in the schools of the sparsely-settled county, but she supplemented her deficient schooling by self-study and wide reading. In Pulaski County, December 31, 1863, she married Wood Rittenhouse (1835–1896), a prominent business man of

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( , sometimes ) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinoi ...

. Their family included one daughter and four sons: Isabella Maud, Wood Arter, Harry H., Fred M. and Robin C. Rittenhouse. After her marriage, for many years, Rittenhouse was able to spare little time for literary work, but during the early 1890s, she was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers. Her best work was done in her short stories. She was a skillful writer of plots, and all her stories were carefully worked out to their logical ending. For years, her interests were given to the work of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

(WCTU), and for that body, she worked and wrote unceasingly. She was the first president of the WCTU of Cairo, serving in that office for many years. She was elected district president of that organization for four consecutive years, and for five years, she also served as district treasurer. She served as secretary of the Social Science Association in Cairo, secretary of the Centennial Association in Cairo, and secretary of the Cairo Protestant Orphan Asylum, besides acting as manager of the

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

for many years. She served a year as secretary of the Cairo Women's Library Club, president (three years) of the Presbyterian Woman's Aid Society in Cairo, and vice-president of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Society in Cairo. Rittenhouse died on July 11, 1911, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. She was buried at Cairo City Cemetery, in Villa Ridge, Illinois.

Selected works

Poetry

* "Out of the Depths"

Short stories

* ''Richard Graham's Love'', by Laura J. Rittenhouse

References

Attribution

* * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rittenhouse, Laura J. 1841 births 1911 deaths 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American short story writers People from Pulaski County, Illinois Writers from Illinois Presidents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union Clubwomen Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century